Alrighty, with the unveiling of the new Dodge Ball game being unveiled in last week's Famitsu, I thought that now was as good a time as any to start up a topic where we can not only continue with further discussion about the game (especially once more news starts pouring), but also relate to each other tales and experiences regarding past Kunio-kun games.
Whether you were an old-head playing the original NES/Famicom classics, the remake for the GBA, imported/emulated the numerous other games that never made it over here or even that "not-quite-Kunio-but-is-next-best-thing" Super Dodge Ball Advance, there should be at least SOME who have some fond memories of what many consider to be the hallmark of Technos Japan's games. And I'd like to hear some!
Me? My first exposure to the series was through River City Ransom back in the early 90s. With NES stuff finally dropping in price thanks to the SNES's impending arrival, that made it opportune time for me to turn on my childish charms (re: pester my parents) to be able to get me more stuff for the NES. Among those were both RCR AND Super Dodge Ball.
What can I say? I was hooked. I used to think that Double Dragon 2 was pretty much the penultimate in beat-down-related fun, but RCR took it to a whole new level. Since that time, RCR remains one of my favorite all-time games, and I still use it as a sort of measuring stick for many would-be brawlers today. Dodge Ball was no slouch, itself. Before I would ever get the chance to touch the likes of NBA Jam and others that would come up over the years, Dodge Ball was already enlightening me on how a "sports" game can go above and beyond what is "merely" offered through more realistic and simulation based games. And again, I loved every minute of it. It was even better playing it with friends!
After that time, it was mostly quiet. While Soccer and Crash N the Boyz were fun games, I was really hoping that the Hockey game and the SNES version of Dodge Ball (both of which, were announced and actually had guest shots in Nintendo Power, if I recall) would come over here...but they didn't. I got a chance to play the Neo Geo version of Super Dodge Ball back in like 96 or 97, and while I immensely enjoyed it, I was later crushed when I learned that it was supposedly going to be Technos Japan's last game.
Then around the turn of the millennium, my eyes were open to the *wink wink* methods that allowed people to play games. I never really got excited about it...at least, until I found out that this was basically the only way that I would be able to see those other Kunio-kun games that we unwashed gaijin never got experience for ourselves. The deal was sweetened when translation groups started to be on the rise, and some of these games ended up receiving nice efforts to better pave the way.
But alas, even as I was joyous over the likes of being able to play the likes of Kunio-tachi no Banka for the Super Fami, and Downtown Special/Technos Samurai for the NES, it still was sad that even after I finish going through these...there may not have been anything to look forward to after that, because Technos was still dead...or at least, so I thought.
Then Million Corp, who basically is Technos mk. II, came back, and blessed us with DD Advance and Super Dodge Ball Advance. Great fun to be had with those titles. But nothing could have prepared me for the remake of RCR/Downtown. To put it bluntly, it was like coming home...and everything that I loved about those older games that I may have only gotten the chance to play just a few months ago culminated in that one GBA game.
Now, some years later, it looks like they're preparing to take me back once more, thanks to this new and upcoming Dodge Ball game for the DS, which looks to take things on a whole new level of awesome. Needless to say, I can't wait until the day that I can import that sucker, and I hope Atlus gets in on this again too.
And so, that's just the rants of one Kunio-kun fan. I'd like to see the reflections of any others who may have similar experiences and love for this fun series of games.
Oh, and here are some nice links.
The scans for the upcoming game: (originally cited from last week's JP news topic)
The Famitsu Online article for the same:
http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2007/08/02/104,1186017852,76203,0,0.html
A very nice fan-made flash video for Downtown/RCR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAnGIBdjU7M
And if you either a) could use some more education about the other games in this series or b) even worse, don't know what the hell I'm talking about, then you probably should go here:
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/kunio/kunio.htm
Thanks for reading.
Oh, and let just close out by saying....
"BARF!" :lol
Whether you were an old-head playing the original NES/Famicom classics, the remake for the GBA, imported/emulated the numerous other games that never made it over here or even that "not-quite-Kunio-but-is-next-best-thing" Super Dodge Ball Advance, there should be at least SOME who have some fond memories of what many consider to be the hallmark of Technos Japan's games. And I'd like to hear some!
Me? My first exposure to the series was through River City Ransom back in the early 90s. With NES stuff finally dropping in price thanks to the SNES's impending arrival, that made it opportune time for me to turn on my childish charms (re: pester my parents) to be able to get me more stuff for the NES. Among those were both RCR AND Super Dodge Ball.
What can I say? I was hooked. I used to think that Double Dragon 2 was pretty much the penultimate in beat-down-related fun, but RCR took it to a whole new level. Since that time, RCR remains one of my favorite all-time games, and I still use it as a sort of measuring stick for many would-be brawlers today. Dodge Ball was no slouch, itself. Before I would ever get the chance to touch the likes of NBA Jam and others that would come up over the years, Dodge Ball was already enlightening me on how a "sports" game can go above and beyond what is "merely" offered through more realistic and simulation based games. And again, I loved every minute of it. It was even better playing it with friends!
After that time, it was mostly quiet. While Soccer and Crash N the Boyz were fun games, I was really hoping that the Hockey game and the SNES version of Dodge Ball (both of which, were announced and actually had guest shots in Nintendo Power, if I recall) would come over here...but they didn't. I got a chance to play the Neo Geo version of Super Dodge Ball back in like 96 or 97, and while I immensely enjoyed it, I was later crushed when I learned that it was supposedly going to be Technos Japan's last game.
Then around the turn of the millennium, my eyes were open to the *wink wink* methods that allowed people to play games. I never really got excited about it...at least, until I found out that this was basically the only way that I would be able to see those other Kunio-kun games that we unwashed gaijin never got experience for ourselves. The deal was sweetened when translation groups started to be on the rise, and some of these games ended up receiving nice efforts to better pave the way.
But alas, even as I was joyous over the likes of being able to play the likes of Kunio-tachi no Banka for the Super Fami, and Downtown Special/Technos Samurai for the NES, it still was sad that even after I finish going through these...there may not have been anything to look forward to after that, because Technos was still dead...or at least, so I thought.
Then Million Corp, who basically is Technos mk. II, came back, and blessed us with DD Advance and Super Dodge Ball Advance. Great fun to be had with those titles. But nothing could have prepared me for the remake of RCR/Downtown. To put it bluntly, it was like coming home...and everything that I loved about those older games that I may have only gotten the chance to play just a few months ago culminated in that one GBA game.
Now, some years later, it looks like they're preparing to take me back once more, thanks to this new and upcoming Dodge Ball game for the DS, which looks to take things on a whole new level of awesome. Needless to say, I can't wait until the day that I can import that sucker, and I hope Atlus gets in on this again too.
And so, that's just the rants of one Kunio-kun fan. I'd like to see the reflections of any others who may have similar experiences and love for this fun series of games.
Oh, and here are some nice links.
The scans for the upcoming game: (originally cited from last week's JP news topic)
The Famitsu Online article for the same:
http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2007/08/02/104,1186017852,76203,0,0.html
A very nice fan-made flash video for Downtown/RCR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAnGIBdjU7M
And if you either a) could use some more education about the other games in this series or b) even worse, don't know what the hell I'm talking about, then you probably should go here:
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/kunio/kunio.htm
Thanks for reading.
Oh, and let just close out by saying....
"BARF!" :lol
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